Defense attorneys for Shawna Nelson, the Greeley woman charged with the murder of her lover's wife, don't want jurors to hear testimony that Nelson is "psycho," "crazy," "obsessive" or "a stalker."

Among witnesses who have made such statements is former Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus, husband of 36-year-old Heather Garraus, according to documents made public this week. Nelson is accused of gunning down Heather Garraus on Jan. 23 after Ignacio Garraus broke off an affair with Nelson.

The love triangle has expanded to include a Weld County prosecutor allegedly involved with Nelson's husband and possibly several others, court documents have revealed.

Motions filed by Nelson's lawyers said several witnesses have referred to Nelson in derogatory terms. The attorneys argue that name-calling could unfairly prejudice a jury.

Her lawyers also said in the motions that Nelson wasn't properly advised of her Miranda rights when her husband and another officer pulled her over in her car. She was then arrested. The officers intercepted Nelson when they heard about the shooting over radio.

Miranda rights refers to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says officers must advise people when they are arrested that their statements might be used against them in court.

The attorneys argued that police did not have "reasonable suspicion of criminal activity" and therefore had no basis for pulling her over, according to the documents.

The lawyers don't want jurors to hear about statements Nelson made during her arrest and the following interrogation. Documents say that "such statements are involuntary, in that they are the product of police deceit, coercion and psychological pressure."

Other testimony Nelson's camp wants excluded include the possibility that the victim had a faint heartbeat at the scene of the shooting.

A paramedic responding to the Greeley credit union where Garraus was gunned down detected the heartbeat, a detail that Nelson's defense says is irrelevant and "would only serve to unfairly inflame the jury against Ms. Nelson."

The motions say that such testimony "is likely to evoke an emotional reaction from any friend or relative called to testify," as well as from paramedics or police witnesses, and it will likely cause the jury "to wonder whether or not Ms. Garraus suffered."

The attorneys also want to exclude from a trial the results of a polygraph test that Shawna Nelson's husband, Ken Nelson, 44, took in January.

He was charged last month with tampering with evidence in the case. A Colorado Bureau of Investigation criminalist concluded that two .40-caliber shell casings found in Shawna Nelson's truck by detectives were fired from a .40-caliber Glock model 22 that belonged to her husband, according to an arrest affidavit.

Ken Nelson had turned over his Glock 22 to a Greeley police lieutenant shortly after the gunfire, detectives wrote in the document.

craigk@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5618